Extended piping requires that shorter lengths of pipe be welded together end to end to form a longer section and prior to joining two lengths together, the mated ends must be machined to receive a weld. Where the wall of the pipe is relatively thin, the distal end of the pipe may be machined into a simple bevel. Where the wall of the pipe is thicker, a compound bevel is required. A typical compound bevel has one portion angled at ten degrees and a second portion angled at thirty-seven degrees.
Machines that bevel the distal end of a length of pipe are elongate with a first end structured to engage the inner surface of a length of pipe and retain the machine rigid with respect to the pipe. The second end of the machine includes a rotating member with a cutting end. Some machines can be configured to automatically cut a bevel at a fixed angle, for example, cut at ten degrees. Such machines must be reconfigured if they are subsequently required to cut a second portion of a bevel at thirty-seven degrees. Other machines move the tool radially at a fixed rate and provide a manually operable feed screw for moving the tool axially. The rate at which the axial feed screw is operated determines the angle of the bevel being cut. The operator can therefore rotate the feed screw at a first rate, for example, one revolution of the screw for each revolution of the cutting tool to form a first bevel angle of thirty-seven degrees and then change the feed rate, for example, to three rotations of the feed screw for each rotation of the cutting tool to cut a bevel at ten degrees. However, the operation of such a machine requires constant attention from the operator. It may take forty-five minutes or longer for a machine to cut a bevel at the distal end of a length of pipe, and if the operator fails to properly adjust the feed screw after each revolution or sequence of revolutions of the cutting tool, the bevel will not be properly formed. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a device for machining the end of a length of pipe that is capable of forming a compound bevel without requiring the reconfiguration of the machine or requiring that an operator manually rotate a feed screw.